A must-buy for any fans of the Halo series, Halo: Nightfall is a live-action Xbox Originals web-series for XBONE, 360, and other Microsoft devices. Originally released in 2014, it'll be coming to Blu-Ray on March 16th- we reckon it's well worth snapping up at this price.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is out next week, containing all four numbered Halo titles in a single enormous remastered collection. Our full review will be going live soon, but it's now the perfect time to look back at the franchise and remember why we still loved it. For us, it comes down to the levels, thirteen years of unforgettable set pieces, pulse-pounding moments, vehicular shenanigans and the freedom to experiment and improvise with our own strategies. So without further ado: the top ten most legendary Halo levels.

DIShonourable Mentions (nobody's perfect):

The Library (Combat Evolved): Even Serious Sam fans will find this Flood-heavy brawl overlong and draining.

Sacred Icon (Halo 2): The Arbiter's missions were all pretty naff, and this boring crawl through Forerunner ductwork takes the biscuit.

10: Metropolis (Halo 2)

Sergeant Johnson knows what the ladies like: grinding treads and awesome tanks. What's not to love? This level starts with a bang as you smash across a Covenant-occupied bridge in a Scorpion, snipe jackals, go on a shotgun rampage ("It's tight quarters on the other side, sir. Use this!"), blow up an entire Covenant task force in a gauss hog and finally leap onto the back of a Scarab to murder its crew.

Halo 2 may be the most inconsistent and unsatisfying campaign in the series, but damn, it has its moments.

The Destiny beta is done, dusted, and now there's a void that can only be filled with expansive Bungie FPS gunplay and the mechanical tones of Peter Dinklage. I don't know about you, but I've found myself growing listless, fidgety, unable to focus or concentrate on anything in particular without tearing off my shirt and screaming DESTINY!! in the manner of some sort of game-obsessed, caramel William Wallace (caraMEL Gibson?).

I may have a serious problem.

Beta withdrawal is most definitely a thing. How dare these developers dangle their outstanding wares in front of our faces, only to take them away for further "polishing" and "optimisation". I need my fix, man. I'm starting to see Dreg crawling around the ceiling.

Thankfully, we have the answer to anyone experiencing similar symptoms. Fret not, weary friend of the Traveller, we've got some great ideas for how to while away the days until Destiny's release in no particular order.

Destiny is not a PlayStation exclusive, but you'd be forgiven for thinking that it might be

With Jon posting his hottest upcoming PS4 titles piece yesterday, something has become abundantly clear: Sony are rather on the slim side when it comes to exclusives this autumn and winter. LittleBigPlanet 3 is a game that the PS4 is crying out for, but it's being developed outside of the walls of Media Molecule's offices. PlanetSide 2 offers the expansive-yet-accessible F2P FPS that the new-gen platform has been crying out for, but why the hell has it taken so long, and will anyone care given that the game has been free and awesome on PC for years? We've struggled collectively as a team to muster even a smidgen of enthusiasm for Driveclub after a PR omnishambles and countless delays, especially given that the racing genre is packed to the gills this year and Evolution are facing staunch competition from the likes of Forza Horizon 2 and The Crew.

And I'm going to punch the next person who crows about The Last of Us Remastered like it's the sodding Second Coming.

Wightmad suggested that the Wii U is getting better exclusives than this. Looking at Bayonetta 2 and Smash Bros, I'm inclined to agree.

But, as we've suggested before, Sony are playing a long game indeed, and they're using the same weapons Microsoft employed with the Xbox 360 to do so: third-party partnerships. We could discuss the ethics of this until everyone involved is blue in the face, but the fact remains that both companies are investing heavily in cultivating third-party partnerships and bringing exclusive snippets of big-name games back from the haggling table. It could be as simple as running exclusive ads with your console appearing at the end, or something as brazen as securing a massive chunk of gameplay.

Microsoft have already done this with FIFA, essentially making Ultimate Team an exclusive piece of DLC. That's a big audience, football is massive, and people will jump ship for that. But Sony are doing something even more daring. They're going after Halo fans.

Halo is coming to Xbox One in a big way, starting this year with the Master Chief Collection, then flanked by live-action TV shows and Halo 5: Guardians. Fans of Spartans and Scorpions have plenty to look forward to.

However, it appears that Microsoft Studios are working on yet another Halo-related project, this time a collaboration between 343 Industries and another as-yet-unknown company. What could it be?

Hold onto your helmets and HUD, because it's time for some wild theorising.

Start and finish the fight

Halo 5: Guardians is out next year, but Microsoft promise that the Xbox One "journey" starts later in 2014. As such we were expecting an 'Anniversary Edition' of Halo 2 to celebrate the tenth birthday of Bungie's sequel, yet a new report suggests that Microsoft are thinking significantly bigger.

As I write this, I'm listening to Martin O'Donnell's Rock Anthem For Saving The World. I have the Halo albums shuffled up in a Spotify playlist. Greatest Journey from Halo 3 is up next, and I'm steeling myself for epic Warthog flashbacks from that game's majestic final run. Under Cover of Night aurally describes the midnight before a dawn of fire -- the calm before the storm. The Overture from ODST takes me back to slinking around the Covenant-strewn streets of New Mombasa before Never Forget almost makes me shed a tear. Not for the plot of intergalactic war and the loss and despair that comes with it, but rather for nostalgic good times that have yet to be bettered.

So much of my enjoyment of the Halo series comes as a direct result of Martin O'Donnell's (and Michael Salvatori's) work. The Halo suite itself is an iconic theme that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It's a succession of strings that just says, Oh we got this!

In spite of his long service to the Halo franchise, it's the versatility shown in the games that don't feature Master Chief that gave me hope for O'Donnell's work on Destiny.

This week, though, presumably with much of the work on that game complete, Bungie terminated the contract of their in-house composer. Depending on whose account you read, it's either a straightforward affair, or possibly something a little fishy.

Well, voice actor Steve Downes at least. The man behind the iconic space marine has spoken out to suggest that Halo fans will have something to play this year, but it won't be the sequel that many Xbox One owners are waiting for.

Halo 4 is still a lot of fun, especially with friends, and 365Games has lowered the price to £12.99 if you're a little late to the party. Halo 4 is still one of the premier shooters on 360 and has held its multiplayer audience well, so you won't have to worry about getting a game. We'd be more worried about trying to stop playing, to be honest. Great spot by Alicia from HUKD!

Videogaming is one of the most versatile and thought-provoking forms of entertainment out there. They teach us about ourselves, they enrich our lives, they let us bond with unforgettable new friends and push the boundaries of what it really means to interact with a work of art. But, let's not kid ourselves, usually we play games because they're barnstormingly fun and properly satisfying to the point of afterglow.

So, to this end, we've prepared a list of some of the most satisfying moments in videogame history. There's no rhyme or reason here, just ten of our most exquisitely gratifying gaming experiences that leave us smugly grinning at our tellies and handhelds like an utter loon. Naturally we want to hear from you in the comments, and perhaps create a brand new democratic list in the discussion thread!

10: The Post-Mortem Hail Mary

We've all done it, even though we all know better. When staring death in the face, we should go to ground or use our equipment, but in the heat of the moment it's all too easy to clench the triggers and throw a grenade god knows where in the vain hope that we take someone with us.

It's stupid, except that sometimes it works. And it feels just... so great.

By far the most satisfying 'post-mortem Hail Mary' comes courtesy of the Halo series, when you manage to stick a plasma grenade to a fully-manned Warthog the split-second before it runs you over. Dying has never felt so awesome.

E3 2013 is going to be utterly insane. With the next console generation breathing down our necks, the 'Big Three' of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are going head to head in a battle for hearts, minds and pre-orders. Coy digs will be taken. Terrible teleprompted jokes will be cracked. Dubstep will reign supreme.

Sadly, I won't be attending personally this year (of all years, argh!), but I've danced this dance enough times to know broadly what to expect from the all-important press conferences scheduled for June 10th. Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will use this platform to address us directly; showing us exclusives, revealing entirely new franchises and confirming third-party support. We've pieced together everything we know so far, as well as our own experiences at E3 from previous years, to present you with a comprehensive breakdown of what the three console manufacturers will bring to the table.

Note that the following article is one part confirmed fact, two parts informed guesswork and a soupçon of rampant drooling speculation. I've endeavoured to make it clear which is which - and of course, there'll still be plenty of surprises along the way!

Microsoft (June 10th, 17:30 GMT)

Let's start with the Redmond heavyweight, since they'll be holding their press conference first and have been making headlines aplenty over the last fortnight. Microsoft will look to supplement (and in many ways, make up for) the Xbox One's entertainment-loaded reveal event with a presentation concentrating on games, exclusives, DLC announcements and features.

During the Xbox One reveal event, Stephen Spielberg revealed that he'll be producing a live-action Halo TV show. Describing the franchise as "myth-making meat" via an on-screen presentation, the legendary director confirmed that he'll be working closely with 343 Industries, and we can assume that the oft-delayed Halo film probably won't be happening any time soon.

Halo: The Television Series will apparently be a "premium" show delivered via Xbox One's television services. We don't know whether it will be pay-per-view or free for Xbox Live Gold members yet. We'd have probably preferred a Halo 5 announcement, but we'll take what we can can get.

Some of you may have read our recent interview with Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons' game director, Josef Fares. When we spoke last week, we chatted a little about consumer pre-occupation with the "length" of a game, that is to say, the time it takes to play the main part of it through from start to finish. Fares was unequivocal in his opinion on the matter: that this critical focus which attempts to determine "how long a game should be" needs to stop:

I think everyone agrees with me. It's just that someone said it, and no-one's stopped to question it. I think the press, the critics, even the community need to understand that it isn't important. Stop complaining about the length of time it takes to play a game. Why are we so focused on how long a game is? It's about the experience. You never question how long a movie is. It's a case of how good or bad it was, and that's it. The time it takes to play a game shouldn't matter in a review. Who's dictated how long or short a game should be? It's all about the experience.

It's a point I broadly agree with although, as Fares himself notes later on, that's not to say we shouldn't have large, expansive games, but rather that a game should only ever be as long as it really needs to be.

Of course, the words "budget" , "commercial appeal", and "long tail" always crop up at this juncture, and perhaps rightfully so. After all, this is an industry, one in which commerce and artistic creation must cohabit together. Retail games cost several times more than one's average cinema jaunt, and it's not unreasonable to expect some sort of longevity for one's money.

343 Industries' Kiki Wolfkill (Best. Name. EVER!) has dropped a few hints regarding the future of the Halo franchise, suggesting that whilst it was important for Master Chief to provide the focus for Halo 4, and saying that "he's not going anywhere", she hopes that the series might able to expand to "build strength and investment in other characters".

343 Industries' boss Bonnie Ross and Halo 4's executive producer Kiki Wolfkill (who wins the award for best name ever) have hit out at the offensive chatter and sexist abuse that has often been witnessed across Xbox LIVE, particularly when it comes to the multiplayer components of certain FPS franchises.